|
Fruit of the Loom CEO out
|
 |
August 30, 1999: 8:34 p.m. ET
Farley loses power as underwear maker again warns of profit woes
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Fruit of the Loom Ltd. announced a management shake-up Monday that substantially reduces the power of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Farley, one of the top shareholders at the underwear maker.
In a statement issued after the bell Monday, the Bowling Green, Ky.-based company said Farley will no longer hold the titles of CEO, president and chief operating officer, but will become part of a new three-person office of the chairman.
The company said it has launched a search for a new CEO. Dennis Bookshester, a board member and a former vice chairman of retailer Carson Pirie Scott & Co., will act as CEO in the interim. Farley, Bookshester and board member Brian Wolfson will occupy the three-person position of chairman.
"It was Bill's decision and the board agreed to it," said Bookshester in an interview Monday evening. Bookshester did not rule out whether he would seek to become its full-time CEO, saying only "I haven't thought about it."
Meanwhile, Fruit of the Loom said for the second time in three months it expects to fall short of Wall Street earnings targets.
Analysts polled by First Call Corp., an earnings tracking firm, expected Fruit of the Loom to earn a profit of 27 cents a share in its third quarter and a loss of 8 cents in the fourth quarter.
Despite successes in merchandising and new product development during the past 18 months, Fruit of the Loom (FTL) said its earnings will fall "significantly" short of Wall Street expectations through year end.
"Our success in these areas has been overshadowed by continued production and customer service difficulties which will negatively affect results for the remainder of the year, causing anticipated results to fall significantly below analysts' expectations," said Farley in a statement.
Fruit of the Loom shares, which have been on a slow drift down this year, fell 1/8 to 7-1/8 Monday.
The management shake-up is part of the effort to help Fruit of the Loom turn its focus from domestic operations to a global approach, Farley said. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fruit of the Loom
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
